
BULLE^TIN 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



NATURAL HI8T0EY. 



November, 1888. 



r 
THE WHITE GRUB OF THE MAY BEETLE, 



By J. A. LINTNER, Ph. D., 

State Entomologist. 



FjRXJsrrriEiiD ifois the jynTJSEtJDyi:. 



ALBANY : 
JAMES B. LYON, PfllNTER, 

1888. 



^*i.:*og^ 



BULLETIN 



SEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



NATUEAL HISTOEY. 



IsTo. 5. 

November, 1888. 

THE WHITE GRUBJDF THE MAY BEETLE, 

By jAV^LINTNEE, Ph. D., 

State ^Entomologist. 



ZPEIIsTTEX) IFOIR TH::E3 JVLTJSIBTJnyC. 



ALBANY : 
JAMES B. LYON, PEINTEE 

1888. 



^H 



^ 






^^• 



The White Grub of the May Beetle, 

Lachnosterna fusca. 



It may safely be asserted that the last twenty- five years have 
been signalized by greater progress than had been made in the pre- 
ceding century, in economic entomology — that science that, through 
the study of insect lives and insect habits, tends to promote the 
comfort, welfare, happiness, and prosperity of society at large. In 
every direction it has shown a marked advance — in a knowledge 
of the insects with which it has to deal, the various insecticides 
employed for the destruction of injurious species, the mechanical 
devices used in the application of insecticides, and a wide distribu- 
tion of the results of the studies, in these several directions, of our 
ablest entomologists. So marked has been this progress, that I need 
not at this time dwell upon it, for it must be evident to all who have 
given the slightest attention to the study. Insect depredations, to 
an extent elsewhere unknown, imperatively demanded that means 
should be found for their control. In recognition of the need, and 
in response to the call, provision, through State aid of the means 
essential to the study, was made, and those were found who were 
ready to devote themselves enthusiastically to the work. As the 
result, we are able to say, that there is to-day, within the reach of our 
agricultural community, a literature which offers them means for pro- 
tection from their insect foes, superior to that of any other country 
of the globe. But, while boasting of this progress, I should fail of 
giving honor to whom honor is due, if I neglected to recall the 
fact, that at the very basis of this progress lie the labors of Dr. Asa 
Fitch, called to his work thirty years ago by the New York State 
Agricultural Society, and sustained therein for nearly a score of 
years, by appropriations obtained from the State, through the 
instrumentality of the Society. True, the labors and writings of Dr. 
Harris, of Massachussetts, in his studies of insect habits, and of 
preventive and remedial measures against a few species, initiated 
economic investigations, and prepared the way for more extended 



4 Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 

research ; yet comparatively little could be accomplished in so vast 
a field, until specialists could be summoned to the work, prepared 
to devote to it their entire time, and their best abilities. 

But the progress of which we boast is only great by comparison 
with the ignorance that formerly prevailed, when directions were 
given in our agricultural journals "how to destroy the cut- worm," * 
and " how to prevent caterpillar attack." When measured, how- 
ever, with what remains to be accomplished, the work seems but 
barely to have been entered upon — so immense is the number of 
species to be studied, so varied are their habits, and so secretly are 
many of their depredations conducted. While the last decade has 
contributed to our literature the life-history of a large number of 
destructive species, and has enabled us to find their most vulnerable 
point of attack and the most effectual means of destruction, there 
still remain several of our more injurious pests, which, as yet, we 
know not how to control, or how to prevent at times their wresting 
from us the products of our toil or the objects of our pride. 

We need not be ashamed to make this confession. It in no 
degree invalidates the importance of entomological investigations. 
It is simply a consequence of the partial investigations thus far 
made — commenced only by those who have but recently passed 
off the stage, and continued by a paltry number of successors ; for, 
as I have elsewhere stated, there are not within the 3,000,000 of 
square miles comprising these United States, more than ten persons 
who are permitted to devote their entire time to the furtherance of 
economic entomology. If, by a wise provision, this number could 
be quintupled, through each one of the several States contributing 
its quota, what rapid progress might be made through such an 
increased and diffused cooperation. My experience of thirty years 
in the study of insects enables me to make the assertion, that there 
is not a single insect pest, the depredations of ivMch ive can not 
materially control, lohenever its entire life-history becomes knoiun to us. 

The exposed habits of the larv?e of most of our Lepidoptera 
(butterflies and moths), they being external feeders by day upon 
various plants, shrubs and trees, have made them comparatively 
easy subjects for study. It is different when we have to deal with 

* In the genera of Agrotis, Mamestra, Hadena, and a few others closely 
allied, over four hundred United States species of moths have been 
described, the larvee of most of which, if not all, may be classed as cut- 
worms. 



The White Grub of the May Beetle. 



Coleoptera (beetles), where the hirval or grub stage is generally 
concealed. This is why the early stages of so few of our Coleoptera 
have as yet been discovered and described. 

When, in addition to a hidden, subterranean, larval life, we have 
also in the life-history the perplexing element of a greatly prolonged 
and unknown larval stage, the problem of how best to deal with 
our insect foes becomes a difficult one. In the Coleoptera, among 
the Elateridce and the Scaraheidcv, we have two groups which 
unfortunately are in this category. The life-histories of the loire- 
worms and of the ivhite grubs are unknown to us, and even the 
duration of their larval period has not been definitely ascertained. 
They are among the more serious pests of the agricultvirist, and we 
do. not know how effectually to prevent their depredations. Many 
experiments have been tried for their control, some of which have 
been partially successful. Not awaiting more positive and perfectly 
satisfactory results, it seems proper that there should be furnished 
the public from time to time such an epitome of what has been 
ascertained as may permit of its beneficial use. 

It is therefore proposed, at the present, to present a summary of 
our knowledge of the May beetle, Lachnosterna fasca (FroliL). 

The larva of this species has, by common usage, received the 
name of " the white grub." 
I t is not a well-chosen 
name, since there are sev- 
eral allied forms to which 
it might be quite as well 
applied, but it serves, from 
its general adoption, the 
purpose of separating it 
from other insects when 
we would speak of it. 
The perfect insect has in 
like manner been named 
the May-bug or May-bee- 
tle, and the June-bug or 
June-beetle. As it is a' ^'''■':Zr''f'^-''''^;^''TrJ"^t^^u-V^^ 

pupa; 2, the white grub in its gruuDd cell . 3 and. i, 

frequent visitor in our the beetle. 

houses, where it is attracted to light, nearly every person, doubt- 
less, has made its acquaintance in childhood. It is a thick-bodied 
insect of an oval form, and of a dark brown color, and measures 




6 . Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 

about eight-tenths of an inch in length. Its wing-covers are 
shining and smooth, with the exception of two or three slightly- 
elevated lines on each, and numerous minute impressed dots. The 
short antennae terminate in three yellow leaflets or plates. 
The breast is covered with fine, glossy, yellowish hairs, from which 
it (together with the other species of the genus) owes the generic 
name of Lachnosterna, signifying ivooUij-hreaded. The legs are 
tawny yellow, with black^upon the joints. In the accompanying 
figure it is shown in a side and back view in 3 and 4. 

The White Grub. 
The larva may be characterized as a large white, soft grub, with 
some scattered fine hairs, a flattened, brownish or 
light mahogany colored head, with six distinct, rather 
long legs on the front part of the body (the first 
three rings), and the hinder portion of the body con- 
siderably the thickest, as shown in the accompanying 
figure. When taken from the ground, it usually 
assumes a curved form, its head and terminal end 
nearly meeting. When full-grown it is almost the 
size of a man's little finger. In the preceding figure, at 2, it is 
represented as lying within a cavity made by it in the ground, 
while feeding upon the roots of its food-plants. 

There are several other " white grubs," similar to this in general 
appearance, but as they have habits in common, to a great extent, 
it is not necessary, except where observations are desired for 
scientific uses, that they should be readily separable. From a 
very similar species,*however, which occurs in manure, it is impor- 
tant that it may be distinguished, lest proper manuring should be 
withheld, through fear that the May-bug would be conveyed with 
it. The May-bug grub does not occur in manure, as its food con- 
sists of living vegetable matter.'* The grub which is frequently 
found abundantly in dung-hills, and may be met with under the 
droppings of cows in fields, is exclusively a dung feeder. It is 
known in some localities as the " muck-worm." Its scientific desig- 
nation is Ligynis relict us Say. The following features, by which the 
two may be separated, have been pointed out by Mr. Walsh. In 

* The grub appears not to be exclusively a vegetable feeder, for it has 
been observed feeding on the eggs of the Koeky Mountain Locust, Calop- 
temis sjyretui? (Riley, in Kept. Commis. Agricult. for 1883, p. 174). 




The White Gkub of the May Beetle. • 7 

the latter species, there may be seen on its back through its semi- 
transparent skin, along the entire length of the body, a lead-colored 
line, denoting its intestinal canal filled with the black dung upon 
which it has fed. In the true white grub, the L. fusca larva, it is 
only near the terminal end of the body that it shows a lead-colored 
appearance, because it is only at this portion of the canal that the 
roots upon which it feeds have become digested and converted into 
a dark-colored excrement {Practical Entomologist, i, 1866, p. 60). 

The Egg. 

"The eggs are white, translucent, spherical, with an average 
diameter of 0.09 inch. They are deposited between the roots of 
grass, and are inclosed in a ball of earth before deposition, as the 
cavity is sufficiently large for the egg to roll about in." (Riley, 
Fifth Report, 1873, p. 55.) 

It would appear that the above is given from the personal obser- 
vations of Prof. Riley, or upon reliable information communicated 
to him. If this be so, then the following statement communicated 
to the Country Gentleman, of August 27, 1874 (p. 547, c. 4), can not be 
accepted : " Two years ago, I repeatedly saw in a garden the female 
depositing her eggs while flying — just at dusk — an inch or so above 
the ground: These eggs were polished white, as large as pigeon- 
shot, and dropped singly. This is in contradiction to the ' authori- 
ties,' for it is stated that the female digs again into the ground and 
deposits about thirty eggs in one hole " (T. J. Burrill, Champaign, 
111., professor of botany in the Illinois Industrial University). 

Beyond the above, I have no knowledge of any publication of 
observations upon the egg-laying of this species, the construction 
of the ball of earth in which the eggs are said to be first inclosed, 
or the manner of its burial. How the ball-making and its burial to 
a considerable depth, in sod, can be accomplished by the aid of feet 
so seemingly unfitted for such operations is incomprehensible to me. 

Injukious Chakacter of the Insect. 
The May-beetle may with propriety be named among our most 
injurious pests. • It has attained the unenviable notoriety of being 
pronounced " one of the very worst and most insidious of the 
farmer's foes." If a list of our insect enemies were arranged in 
the order of relative importance, this species would, I think, find 
place among the first twenty. It is a native species, and very early 



8 • Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 

notices appear of its serious injuries. It was first described nearly 
one hundred years ago — in 1792. Unfortunately, its depredations 
are evidently upon tlie increase, particularly within our own State, 
as appears from the following extract, and from the numerous 
inquiries received by me, of late, for approved and eflectual means 
for the arrest of its ravages. 

From Washington county, N. Y., in 1881, we have this statement : 
" The widespread havoc which this insect has caused this year, and 
the fact that its ravages are increasing with alarming rapidity, is 
my excuse for referring to the subject. The damages in this 
county amount to, probably, thousands of dollars annual^, and 
are increasing." 

The extent that these depredations have already attained is a 
sufficient warrant for this present notice of them. In their con- 
sideration, those committed in the early stage of the insect — that 
of the grub — will first be referred to. 

Injuries from the Grub. 

Dr. Harris writes : " They subsist on the tender roots of various 
plants, committing ravages among these vegetable substances, on 
some occasions of the most deplorable kind, so as totally to disap- 
point the well-founded hopes of the husbandman." 

To Grass. — Dr. Fitch thus notices it : " These grubs feed upon 
the roots of grass and other plants, which they cat off a short 
distance beneath the surface ; and when they are numerous they 
advance under ground like an army, severing the turf as smoothly 
as though it were cut with a spade, so that it can be raised up in 
large sheets, and folded over or rolled together like a carpet. Often 
from a dozen to twenty grubs will be exposed in every square foot 
when the turf is thus raised. Large patches of this kind will 
occur in the jniddle of a meadow or pasture, ever}^ blade of the 
grass being brown and dead" (3f?, iili and 5th Repts., 1859, p. 53). 

In some pasture lands near London, Ontario, throughout entire 
fields " the roots of the grass had been so eaten that the turf could 
readily be lifted by the hand by the yard, and underneath were 
thousands of the grubs feeding on the remaining fragments of the 
roots. In one instance, a field had been so completely destroyed 
that the farmer had set fire to the withered grass, with the hope of 
scorching the enemy to death" {Canadian Entomologist, xiii, 1881, 
p. 200). 



The White Grub of the May Beetle. 9 

A report from North Pawlet, Vt. {New Eiujland Homestead, Nov. 
8, 1884), states: "There is, at a Ioav estimate, between three hundred 
and four hundred acres of land in this town that looks as barren 
as our roads, so far as anything green is visible. In our back lots 
a good deal of the dry turf has been turned over by skunks, coons, 
foxes and crows, in search of the grub." 

To Corn. — The accounts given of its destructiveness to corn are 
numerous. Not onl}' does it cut off the young corn when a few 
inches high, but it will also destroy full-grown corn over entire 
fields. On Prairie Ronde, in Michigan, it appeared in such num- 
bers as nearly to destroy many fields of corn. Upon examination 
of a few corn stalks left standing in a field, the roots were found 
eaten off to within a few inches of the stalk, and often from three 
to five large grubs in a hill. Most of the corn Avas killed early in 
the season, and the few stalks left were dying a lingering death, 
without producing any grain (Practical Entomologist, i, p. 60). 

A gentleman from Nine Mile Prairie, Missouri, writes : " They 
are destroying whole fields of corn. I have seen fields w'here they 
have destroyed the corn in patches for rods around, leaving the 
ground as bare as the traveled road. They seem to destroy the 
tap-root first, and afterward prey on the laterals " (Practical Ento- 
mologist, i, p. 61). 

From Washington county, N. Y., we have this statement and 
estimate of injuries to corn from the grub, in the year 1881 : " A 
large area of corn, in the aggregate, has been badly injured or 
entirely destroyed. On my own farm they caused the loss of one 
hundred bushels of corn alone ; much of it would pull up by the 
roots when struck by the knife, frequently exposing to view from 
five to fifteen grubs" [Country Gentleman for Dec. 29, 1881, p, 
851, c. 3). 

Mr. Glover records their extraordinary abundance in Grayson 
county, Virginia, in 1874, where as many as one hundred and ten 
were counted in a single hill. They were also, during the same 
year, quite destructive to corn crops in Huntington county, 
Indiana, and in Montgomery county, Missouri (Report of the 
Commissioner of Agriculture, for 1874, p. 129). 

To Strawberries. — It has long been known as especially addicted 
to feeding upon the roots of the strawberry. Prof. Forbes, in his 
excellent Address on Insects Affecting the Strawberry, read before 
2 



10 Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 

the Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society, at New Orleans, on 
February 22, 1883, represents it (page 27 of Author's edition) as 
" perhaps the most unsatisfactory insect with which the strawberry- 
grower has to deal, offering the fewest opportunities for effective 
attack. The roots of the plant are often destroyed by it to a 
degree to impair seriously the value of the plantation." Mr. B. 
D. Walsh has written of it that it " is particularly destructive to 
strawberry beds and is probably one of the chief reasons why this 
plant will not last more than a few years on the same spot of 
ground in this country" {Pract. Ent., iii, p. 60). Dr. Packard 
records its ravages at Salem, Mass., where many plants were killed 
by its eating the main roots and thus passing from one j)lant to 
another {Third Report Inj. Ins. Mass., 1873, p. 6). 

To Potatoes. — In Washington county, N. Y., during the year 
1881, the grub is charged with having devoured whole fields of 
potatoes. 

Hundreds of bushels were reported as having been made unfit 
for market, in North Pawlet, Vt, in 1884, by the grubs having 
eaten holes into them {N'ew England Homestead, for Nov. 8, 
1884). 

To Wheat. — Of its injuries to wheat and other grains, Professor 
Webster has written : " During autumn there is hardly a field of 
wheat here in Indiana that does not, to a greater or less extent, 
show the effects of their voracious appetites. Their method of 
work in the grain fields seems to be much more erratic than in 
grass lauds, as the many clusters of from two to twent}', or per- 
haps more, dead plants that have been eaten oft' below the surface, 
illustrate. Their work in spring wheat, and oats during spring, is 
usually less noticeable, and we have never observed the grubs 
feeding on the roots of spring-sown grain later than the fifteenth 
of May." 

To Barley. — Professor Webster also reports that the larvae 
were observed in the University Experiment farm at La Fayette, 
Ind., cutting off the roots of the full-grown and fully-headed grain. 
As late as the twenty-eighth of June they were causing whole 
stocks of the straw to wither and die before the kernels had filled 
{Ann. Rept. Comm. Agriculture, for 1886, p. 575). 



The White Grub of the May Beetle. 11 

Injuries by the Beetle. 

Many of our insect pests are injurious only in their larval stage, 
except through the evil that they originate in the deposit of their 
eggs. Of this class are all of the extensive order of Lepidoptera, 
embracing the butterflies and moths, which, in their winged stage, 
are unprovided with jaws for biting. Their slender and flexible 
tubular proboscis, fitted only for imbibing liquids, can not be used 
for any serious harm — in this particular, unlike the rigid, stouter 
proboscis of the Hemiptera or bugs, which is capable of inflicting 
serious and varied injuries. The powerful jaws with which many 
of the Coleoptera, or beetles, are armed, are often fitted for, and 
employed as, formidable instruments of offense. The May-beetle 
while, from the character of its food and a life-period of short dura- 
tion, it is less injurious than its insatiate and long-lived grub, is 
still chargeable, as a leaf-eater, with extensive depredations at times 
upon many of our fruit, forest, and shade trees. Dr. Fitch has 
written of them as " gathering by night upon the trees and eating 
the leaves, sometimes in such numbers as to wholly strip the 
foliage from the choice varieties." Prof. Riley states: "I have 
known the Lombardy poplar to die, in consequence of the utter 
denudation they caused ; while groves of both pin and post oaks 
iQuercas ijalustris and Q. ohtmiloha] * * * were thoroughly 
and suddenly denuded by them " {First Report Ins. Mo., p. 157). 

Of the fruit trees, the cherry and plum appear to be preferred. 
It was thought by Mr. Walsh that their swarming upon these trees, 
as they occasionally do, was not usual, except in the eastern States, 
as he had not known it to occur in the valley of the Mississippi 
{Practical Entomologist, i, 1866, p. 62). But that they are, at times, 
quite as abundant in that region appears from the record, that in 
Cameron, Missouri, " they swarmed during the last of May, 1866, 
making a noise on the trees like the coming up of a storm of wind 
and rain " {American Entomologist, i, 1868, p. 37). Among other 
trees, the beetle is recorded as feeding upon the oak, the maple, and 
the beech. 

Mr. W. L. Devereaux, of Wayne Co., N. Y., writing in 1886, 
states: " The May-beetle is very abundant in this county this year, 
and it has completely stripped the foliage from most of the late 
inf oliating trees like the species of walnut, ash, and oak ( The Hus- 
bandman for June 23). 



12 Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 

Abundance of the Beetle. 

The immeuse numbers in which the insects sometimes congre- 
gate in seasons of their unusual abundance is so w^ell known that 
two notices only will be given of such gatherings. A correspondent 
from Central Maryland has sent me the following paragraph : 

The land seems to be full of them. They lie quiet during the 
day, but in the night, in the neighborhood and around and among 
the branches of two weeping willow trees near my house they make 
a continuous humming noise with their wings, and after the 
sultry eveuings the noise made by them is a continuous roar all 
through the night. 

In the Rural New Yorker, of Jiily 10, 1886, is the following 
notice of an extraordinary flight of the beetles : 

An immense swarm of June-bugs settled down on Pekin, Illinois, 
Monday evening. Millions of them flew against an electric light 
on a street corner, and were burned to death. Five wagon loads 
were gathered up afterwards from the ground beneath the lights, 
and thrown into the Illinois river. 

Life-history. 

When I say that the life-history of this insect is not known, I 
offer the best reason for our inability to give effectual means for 
preventing the heavy annual losses that it inflicts upon us. The 
brief outlines of a history that are to be found in our entomological 
reports appear to have no better foundation than a presumed agree- 
ment with that of the European cockchafer, Melolontha vulgaris — 
a very poor basis, it may be remarked, for, long as that notorious 
pest has been known and studied, the knowledge of its transforma- 
tions is far from complete. Dr. Harris gives no details, but con- 
tents himself with the very broad statement that " the habits and 
transformations of the common cockchafer of Europe * * * 
will serve to exemplify those of the other insects of this family." 
Even so accurate an observer as Dr. Fitch, thoughtlessly and 
unwisely, we think, committed himself to the following statement: 
" Every thing known respecting the history of our May-beetle and 
its transformations concurs to show that it is exactly analogous to 
the cockchafer or Ma3^-bug of Europe." In truth, the European 
cockchafer, of whose excessive abundance and ravages at times we 
have had such graphic accounts, is not closely allied to our May- 
bug. It belongs to another genus — Melolontha — which is entirely 
unrepresented in this country. 




The White Grub of the May Beetle. 13 

Professor Eiley presents the following history, unaccompanied 
with the authority or observations supporting it : " Soon after 
pairing, the female beetle creeps into the earth, especially wherever 
the soil is loose and rough, and after depositing her eggs, to the 
number of forty or fifty, dies. These hatch in the course of a 
month, and, the grubs, growing slowly, do not attain full size until 
the early spring of the third year, when they construct r^f^-^***. 
an ovoid chamber, lined with a gelatinous fluid, change p^^%A 
into the pupae [shown in the accompanying figure], and soon ^y' ^^^ 
after into beetles. These last are at first white, and all 
the parts soft, as in the pupa, and they frequently remain 
in the earth for weeks at a time, until thoroughly hard- 
ened, and then, on some favorable night in May, they rise ^^^ ^ —The 
in swarms and fill the air. It is very probable that under pupa of the 
favorable conditions some of the grubs become pupse, and ^^^y-^®®* ®- 
even beetles, the fall subsequent to their second spring ; but grow- 
ing torpid on approach of winter, remain in this state in the earth, 
and do not quit it any sooner than those transformed in the spring. 
On this hypothesis, their being occasionally turned up in the fresh 
beetle state at fall ploughing, becomes intelligible " (First Report 
Ins. Mo., p. 157). 

In all thus far written of the transformations of this insect, the 
elem'^nfc of uncertainty largely prevails. It does not appear that 
the larval life-duration has in a single instance been ascertained, and 
many such determinations would be required in order to establish 
a rule of uniformity or the range of variation. Observations 
sufficiently reliable for use in building up a life-history are almost 
wholly wanting. The following are of some value : 

In Clinton county, Missouri, the beetles swarmed late in May of 
1866, from which eggs were doubtless deposited in June (the 
female is said to live for about a week). The grubs [from these 
eggs] were small, and not very injurious in 1867. They were 
" full-grown, fine, fat fellows," in the autumn of 1868 {American 
Entomologist, i, 1868, p. 37). From the above we educe : If the 
larvas were then as reported, full-grown, the beetles from them would 
appear in. May of 1869, three years from their preceding appear- 
ance. The grubs may have either transformed into pup?e in the 
autumn of 1868 or spring of 1869 — in the third year of their life. 
Their larval period would then have been either two and one-third 
or two and three-fourths years. 



14 Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 

Dr. Packard records his having found the pupse " in little rude 
cells or chambers, about six inches under the mould *■>:-* 
in Maine, late in May" {3d Report Ins. llass., 1873, p. 7). 

I will here quote, from its obscure resting place, where it seems 
to have been overlooked, a somewhat circumstantial history of the 
transformations of this insect, which from the absence of techni- 
calities and its general character, would seem to be the personal 
observations of the writer, and, therefore, of considerable value. 
It is from the Patent Office Report for the year 1852, Pt. ii. Agri- 
culture (p. 219), and is a portion of a report upon the crops of 
Ulster county, N. Y., made by David L. Bernard, of Clintondale. 

Corn is extensively cultivated in this county, and is considered 
most remunerative at present. It seldom fails with us to pro- 
duce a fair yield, except in seasons when the larvce of a beetle are 
present with us. When these gruhs prevail to a considerable 
extent, neither good husbandry nor high manuring can secure us a 
crop ; and perhaps no other county has for the past twenty years 
suffered more loss from this, than Ulster. This formidable enemy 
to agriculture seems gradually to be leaving us, in all probability 
to appear in some other place, and there to renew the same 
destructive process practiced on us. In order to give this beetle a 
slight introduction to whom it may concern, I will give a brief 
description of its general appearance and habits. The bug or 
beetle is about three-fourths of an inch in length, of a dark brown 
color, and may be seen in large numbers flying through the air, in 
the early part of the evening, about the last of April or first of 
May. They deposit their eggs generally in the month of June, 
on grass land, on soil that is light or loamy. The larva is hatched 
from the egg during the month of August, and feeds upon the roots 
of vegetables until the ground becomes frozen ; it then descends 
below the frost, and there remains in a state of torpidity until the 
following spring. As the frost leaves the ground it ascends to the 
surface (exhibiting no increase of growth during the winter), and 
again resumes its former mode of living, carefully secluded from 
the rays of the sun ; feeding on the roots of almost all kinds of 
grasses and vegetables. Its movements are slow and sluggish ; its 
color nearly white, with the exception of the head, which is red ;* 
it has six legs, three on each side ; it is at this age about one inch 
in length. It continues its destruction of all green vegetable 
matter with which it may come in contact, until the ground 
becomes frozen again. This is its most destructive season through 
its progress of change. As the ground becomes frozen, it again 
descends below the frost (in some instances six feet below the sur- 
face), as before remains torpid until the next spring, when it again 
appears at the surface, being now about one and one-quarter inch 
in length. It continues to feed as usual upon vegetable substances 



The White Grub of the May Beetle. 15 

until about the middle of June, when it ceases to feed, descends 
deeper into the earth, and becomes torpid until about the middle 
of August, when a complete change occurs. It opens lengthwise 
from the head, back near one-half its length, and forthwith appears 
in the chrj^salis state, in which it remains nearly inactive until 
about the last of September, when it changes into a perfect state 
or beetle, and still remains in a nearly torpid state until the 
following spring, when, about the last of April, it ascends to 
the surface and immediately commences to reproduce its species. 
It has thus far baffled the ingenuity of man to prevent its 
ravages, while fields of timothy have, within a few weeks, been 
entirely destroyed by this grub, and thousands of acres of corn 
have been totally lost in this county by its ravages. 

According to the above statement, the larval stage proper would 
be of the duration of two years. 

Distribution. 

This insect is one of very extensive distribution, being found in 
all parts of the United States, and extending northward into British 
America, where it occurred in Kirby's collections in north latitude 
54° — the latitude of Labrador and Hudson's bay. 

Its Enemies. 
An excellent reason for the amount of injury which this insect 
imposes upon us is found in the few insect or other enemies that 
prey upon it, protected as it is by its subterranean life in its first 
three stages, and its unusually brief final stage. Only one insect 
parasite is known to attack it. It has, however, several vertebrate 
enemies which render good service in restraining its unlimited 
increase ; these will first be noticed : 

The Skunk. — There is abundant testimony of the service ren- 
dered by skunks in the destruction of the grubs, and to the expert- 
ness which they manifest in the discovery of their presence, and in 
making them their prey. It has been thought that one reason 
among others for the multij^lication of the grub in localities in 
the "Western States and elsewhere is to be found in the wholesale 
slaughter of the skunk since their skins have obtained commercial 
value as a fur. In the Country Gentleman of December 1, 1881 
(p. 778, col. 2), we have the following observations : "A few years 
ago, before skunk skins became so valuable as furs, I had a pair of 
half-tamed skunks which I used to let out every evening to dig for 
grubs, and it was wonderfully interesting to see their infallible 



16 Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 

scent or instinct in discovering the location, and then their aston- 
ishing celerity in digging out and gobbling the grubs. But most 
astonishing of all was the quantity of grubs those two little beasts 
would devour every evening. I have often watched them, and, 
incredible as it may seem, I could not say that they ate less than 
half a bushel daily ! " To the above statement, the suggestion is 
added, that a very valuable ally might be obtained in our war against 
the white grub by removing the odoriferous glands from the skunk, 
and domesticating him for employment as a grub killer. 

Mr. Hoard, of Wisconsin, has made the following statement : 
I once had eight acres of hops, in which the white grub was very 
destructive. I went through the hops one morning, when there had 
been a couple of skunks in the hops in the night, and I found by 
actual count that they had investigated 400 hop hills, and I thence- 
forth became a very firm friend of the skunk {Trans. Wise. St. 
Agricul. Soc, xix, 1881, p. 298). 

A correspondent of the Practical Farmer had watched the habits 
of skunks for twenty years, and found their natural food to be 
insects. He had a field of corn attacked by the white grub, in 
which he afterwards observed numerous small, round holes where 
these insects had been taken out by the skunks and devoured. He 
believed that the skunk should stand first in the list of insect 
destroyers, as it fed upon other noxious insects in addition to the 
white grub (Country Gentleman for Jan. 25, 1877, p. 527). 

A corresj)ondent from Washington county, N. Y., gives this testi- 
mony: "Before skunks began to be hunted, we had no trouble 
with the white grub, and I think they kept them down. I often 
found my corn-hills rooted into, evidentlj^ by skunks in search of 
grubs. Those dug into early in the season made a fair crop, while 
those untouched until later were destroyed. I have also seen the 
same signs in meadows and pastures" {Country Gentleman, Dec. 29, 
1881, p. 851). 

Not only are the grubs so eagerly sought for and devoured by 
this animal, but it is also, according to Dr. Fitch, a natural destroyer 
of the beetle, its food consisting almost entirely of this insect dur- 
ing the short period of its existence {Third Fitch Bept. Ins. N. Y., 
p. 55). This is in accordance with the statement of Dr. Harris, to 
the efi'ect that the beetles are devoured by the skunk, whose bene- 
ficial foraging is detected in our gardens by its abundant excrement 
filled with the wang-cases of these insects. 



The White Gkub of the May Beetle. 17 

The Raccoon. — Dr. Thomas (Sixth Rej^t. Ins. Ill, p. 98) names 
the raccoon a»oue of the carnivorous animals that prey upon this 
insect, but does not state to what extent it destroys it. 

In the report from North Pawlet, Vt., page 9, it is mentioned 
as one of the animals that had been digging in the dry turf for the 
grubs that had caused the death of the grass. 

The Fox. — In the same report, this animal is also included 
among those which had been rendering good service to the farmer, 
and the following suggestion is added : " There is now a bill before 
the Legislature authorizing the State to pay one dollar a head for 
all foxes killed in the State. Now, if these grubs continue with 
their sad havoc from year to year, I should think it a wise legis- 
lative act to pass a law prohibiting the killing of all wild beasts 
and birds which subsist in part on these grubs." 

The Mole. — Professor Clay pole, a careful observer of the habits 
of insects and other animals, permits us to claim the mole as an 
auxiliary in our warfare against the white grub. The following is 
what he saw, writing from Yellow Springs, Ohio : " In digging 
potatoes this year, I observed the runs of a mole in all directions 
through the ground. It was a piece of old sod, and very much 
infested with white worms, the larva of the cockchafer, Lachnos- 
terna fusca. Many of the potatoes had been partly eaten by these 
worms, but I observed that wherever a mole-run traversed a hill 
of potatoes no white worm could be found, even though the half- 
eaten potatoes were proof of his former presence. The inference 
is fair that the mole had found him first and eaten him, and very 
likely the mole's object in so thickly tunneling this j^iece of ground 
was to find these grubs" (Canadian Entomologist, xiv, p. 17). 

A writer in the Indiana Farmer says : " Last year I put twelve 
moles in my strawberry patch of five acres to catch the grubs, and 
they did the work. I never had a dozen plants injured during the 
summer, either by the grubs or moles. I know some people do 
not care for moles on their farms, but I want them in my straw- 
berry patch." 

The Gopher. — In Michigan, upon some new land badly infested 
with white grubs, and where the gopher was also abundant, the 
attempt was made to exterminate these animals, until they were 
observed, in the autumn, busily engaged in digging up and eating 
the grubs. 



18 Bulletin of the New Yoek State Museum. 

The Frog. — This animal undoubtedly destroys large numbers of 
the beetle, at the time when their destruction would be of the 
greatest benefit, during the night of their emerging from the 
ground and before they have deposited their eggs. Dr. Hoy, of 
Racine, Wis., relates that on the twelfth of June, having occasion 
to go across a little piece of prairie, he saw a large spotted frog, 

JRana , very large and hardly able to jump. He captured and 

opened him, and to his surprise found within him eight May- 
beetles. Others were caught and examined, and each was found 
to contain from one to four of the beetles (Trans. Wise. St. 
Agricid. Soc, xix, 1881, p. 297). 

Other Mammals. — Among the mammals appointed to check the 
ravages of the cockchafer and allied leaf-beetles in Europe, accord- 
ing to Latreille, are the badger, weasel, marten, bats, and rats. 
The same animals, no doubt, render more or less service in 
restricting the increase of the May-bug in this country. 

Domestic Foiols. — If these be watched as they follow the plow 
in our gardens and fields in search of such insects as may be 
brought to the surface, it will be seen that they show a special 
fondness for the white grub. Their presence during the operation 
of plowing should, therefore, always be encouraged. 

The Croiv. — The common crow feeds upon both the beetle and 
the grub. It is believed by many that its frequent occurrence in 
corn-fields is the result of its fondness for the grub, which is prey- 
ing upon the young corn, rather than for the corn itself. The 
studies that have been so ably conducted during the last few years 
upon the food of birds should have settled ere this the question 
beyond all doubt, whether the crow is to be driven from, or invited 
to, our corn-fields. 

Mr. Glover states that this bird has been observed to return on 
the appearance of the dor bug or May-beetle, and to feed greedily 
upon it both in its winged and larval stages. 

Other Birds. — The beetles have been found in the stomach of 
the king-bird, Ti/rannus CaroUnensis, shot in the month of May. 
The robin, black-birds and jays are also said to feed upon them. 

The grub has been taken from the stomach of thn sparrow 
hawk, Faico sparverius. 

Insects. — The grub has also enemies among its own class, which 
prey upon it. Several of the predaceous beetles are said to 




The White Grub of the May Beetle. 19 

devour it — species of the rapacious Garabidce, probably Galosoma 
calidum and others, but their names have not been recorded. 

A Parasite. — While many insect attacks are restrained through 
the beneficent aid of other insects, which, in our gratitude, we are 
apt to regard as specially com- 



missioned to perform this duty 
for our protection, thus far we 
know of but a single parasite 
which is waging warfare upon 
the white grub. This insect "*^^''^ c 6 a 

1 •11 -x c 11 Fig. i.— The white grub parasite, 

was described and figured by tiphia inoknata. 

Professor Riley, in his Sixtli Report on the Insects of Missouri 
(1874, pp. 123, 124j, as the white grub parasite — Tipliia inornata. 
It is shown at a in the accompanying figure. It is one of the 
digger-wasps, and the ease with which these creatures are able to 
burrow in the ground enables this one to discover the grub in 
its concealed retreats, and by depositing an egg upon the 
body, to provide for its progeny its needed food, and to 
insure the death of the attacked grub. The parasitic larva, 
shown at c, having matured, it incloses itself for its changes 
in " an egg-shaped cocoon of a pale golden-brown or buff color, and 
with a soft exterior surface, in touch as well as color. * * * 
Upon cutting this cocoon open, it will be found to consist of about 
a dozen delicate layers, the outer ones soft and loosely spun, the 
inner ones more and more compact and paler in color." The cocoon 
is shown at d in the figure. Their presence in the ground (from 
the above description and figure they may be easily recognized) 
serve to show the parasitic attack. They have in some instances 
been met with in such numbers, in association with a formidable 
grub attack, as to arrest attention and to induce inquiry into their 
character. 

For an interesting mention of a secondary parasitic attack — the 
larva of the Tiphia, in its turn and while within its cocoon, 
is destroyed by a beetle known as Rhipiphorus (Emmenadia) 
pectinatus Fabr., var. ventralis — -'see Riley, loc. cit., p. 125. 

From a paper recently read by Mr. Otto Lugger, before the 
Baltimore Naturalists' Field Club, it appears that the Rhiphophora 
parasite above mentioned, which destroys the Tiphia parasite, has 
a parasite which also destroys it. Mr. Lugger had found within 
the Tiphia cocoons small hymenopterous parasites — the species 



20 



Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 



not stated — showing this interestincf order of events: The larva 
of a large Coleopterous insect {Lachnostenia fusca) is destroyed 
by a hymenopterous larva {Tiphia inornata); this in turn by a 
Coleopterous larva {Rhipiphoras pectinatus) ; and this again by a 

Hymenopterous larva ( ). 

In connection with the parasitic attack on the 
white grub, it is of interest to note that Dr. F. 
Brauer has lately discovered a very interesting 
parasite upon Rliizoti-egus, an European genus 
belonging to the same group with Lachnosterna. 
Within its nearly formed pupa, he has found the 
second larval stage of a dipterous insect, Hirmo- 
neura obscura — one of the bee-flies, the genus of 
which is represented in the United States. It is 
still not known when and in what manner the para- 
site eutei-s the Rhizotrogus grub, but it was thought 
to be while the latter is in the larval state {Science, 
iii, April 18, 1884, p. 488). 

The TVhite Grub Fungus. — For another destroyer 
of the white grub, and the most interesting of all 
that we have referred to, we have to turn to the vege- 
table kingdom — to that low class of plants known 
a,fi fungi. From its being so often found upon this 
species, it has been popularly named the white grub 
fungus. Scientifically, it is known as Cordyceps 
Ravenelii Berkeley.'^" It was described in 1857, but 
its economic importance in its association with the 
white grub was not known until brought to notice 
by Walsh in 1867 {Practical Entomologist, ii, 1867, 
p. 116) upon the reception of specimens from a 
large number of the grub killed by this growth, 
which had been plowed up in a field in Iowa. Its 
character was not understood at the time, Mr. 
Walsh suggesting that, but for the numbers found, 
the grub might have swallowed a seed which sub- 
sequently sprouted- and grew. Later, its fungoid 
character was disclosed. Its general appearance 
Fig. 5.- The white jg ^j^^^ ^f ^ pair of elongated horns, green at first, 

grub attacked by a ^ • , n • • e 

fungus. but subsequently changmg to brown, issuing from 



* Originally described as a Cordyceps, and subsequently referred to other 
genera, it has recently been restored to the Cordxjceps of Fries, in Sylloge 
Fujngorum of P. A. Saccardo (.vol. ii, 1883, p. 573). 



The White Grub of the May Beetle. 21 

the lower side of the hirva, betAveen the head and the first joint. 
In length thej vary from less than that of the larva, to three or 
four times as long. Its appearance, when it has attained the latter 
length, is shown in Figure 5. 

This interesting parasite occurs at times, in considerable abund- 
ance, more particularly in the West, and South.* It has been 
met with occasionally in New York, specimens having been received 
by me from ex-Governor Seymour, occurring upon his farm 
near Utica, and from others. 

It has been suggested that this fungus attack might be extended, 
through propagation and distribution of the spores of the fungus, 
but I am not aware that the experiment has ever been made. 

Preventives and Eemedies. 
Passing now to the more practical portion of this paper, we will 
consider what may be done to control the ravages of the insect of 
which we have been speaking, and first, the prt;ventive means that 
promise protection. 

Ashes. — It is stated that for strawberries, which are very liable to 
attack, an efficient protection is found in placing a quantity of ashes, 
either leached or unleached, upon the ground, before setting the 
plants. This is upon the authority of Dr. Barnes, of Owasso, 
Mich. 

Tobacco. — A gentleman from Westwood, N. J., states that by 
digging [burying] tobacco stems into strawberry beds, the injury 
of the grub may be prevented {Country Gentleman, Oct 21, 1875, 
p. 669). 

Rolling, etc. — Compacting the surface of the ground by treading 
.it with sheep or cattle, or by the use of heavy rollers, might give 
protection from the deposit of eggs, by the inability of the beetle 
(if this be its habit) of excavating the earth for the purpose, and 
might also serve to prevent the easy passage of the grubs, if in the 
soil,, from one root to another. But this method, which has been 
urged for use against many insects by English writers, seems so 
opposed to the condition of looseness and pulverization of the soil 
which is well known to stimulate vegetable growth, that we 
incline to the belief that whatever protection it might yield from 
insect injury would be counterbalanced b}' a stinted crop. 

* Mr. Wm. Trelease has found it proving very destructive to white grubs 
in the neighborhood of Madison, Wis. {Psyche, iii, 1881, p. 279j. 



22 Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 

Gas-lime. — Although not tested by experiment, I have great 
faith in the efficacy of gas-lime, as a protection from the deposit of 
the eggs of the beetle, or, if the protection be but partial, then, for 
the destruction of such eggs as may have been deposited. Upon 
ground to be seeded or planted, the lime, fresh from the works, 
might be distributed and worked into the soil, but where the crop 
to be protected is already upon the ground, the lime should first 
undergo such atmospheric exposure as would permit of its use as 
a top-dressing without harm to the vegetation. It should be 
applied during the month of May or June, or as soon as the beetles 
are seen upon the wing. For different methods of its application 
I would refer to my First Annual Report, where I have treated at 
some length of gas-lime as an insecticide. 

In referring to this preventive. Miss Ormerod has w^ritteu : 
" Gas-lime has been tried, sprinkled broadcast, without keeping off 
the chafers, but if it was shoveled on in a thin layer, so that the 
chafers could have no cognizance by any natural instinct of what 
was beneath, and also could not penetrate into the soil without first 
fairly scuffling their way through the gas-lime, one might hope for 
good results. It would be well worth while to try whether shovel- 
ing ashes or dry earth, well sprinkled with spirits of tar, or with 
phenol, might not be of great service ; or again, mulching over the 
roots with any suitable material that could be moistened from time 
to time with soft (or whale oil) soap [Agricultural Students' 
Gazette [Cirencester, England], April, 1883, i, p. 73). 

Air-slached Lime. — There is good reason to believe, from the many 
statements that have been made, that the foliage of trees threat- 
ened by destruction from the beetle, may be saved by a thorough 
dusting of air-slacked lime above and below, as far as possible, 
while damp with the dew — better if done in the morning. The 
pests dislike gritty food, which is apparently repulsive to them, 
and while the greater part of the caustic quality of the lime thus 
slacked is gone through the slacking, yet doubtless there is enough 
remaining to make the taste of it obnoxious. 

According to the Livermore (Cal.) Herald, Mr. Julius Schrader, 
who owns a fine vineyard and orchard west of that town, saved 
his crop of apricots from the attack of June bugs by the use of 
air-slacked lime. His trees were swarming with the insects, which 
had begun to destroy the fruit as fast as It ripened. He applied 
the lime by dusting it through the trees, with the result of driving 



The White Grub of the May Beetle. 23 

away every insect, and saving the remainder of the crop unin- 
jured. (D. W. Coquillet, in the Pacific Fruit Groiver, i, September, 
1887, p. 132). 

Infusion of Burdock Leaves. — A correspondent of the New 
England Homestead gave the following as an effectual remedy for 
an attack of the onion maggot : 

Take green burdock leaves and stalks, run them through a hay- 
cutter, put them in a laige kettle or tub, and mash them Avith an 
old axe or mall, adding water, and pounding them to a pulp. Let 
it stand over night, have the decoction strong, and when you see 
the first sign of the maggot, use this, and it will be found a dead 
shot for the worm. Put it on all of the onions as a preventive. I 
have used it for forty years on onions. I use a sprinkler, taking 
off the nozzle, and pouring the solution along the rows. I seldom 
have to apply it the second time. 

If the above was what it claimed to be — an effectual preventive 
of the attack of the persistent onion maggot, which no application 
hitherto had served to repel — it seemed that it should be equally 
efficient if used to prevent attack of the white grub. A test of its 
efficacy was, therefore, suggested to Professor C. H. Peck, who 
had applied to me for aid against the ravages of the white grubs 
in his garden. The results of its use by him were so entirely 
satisfactory, that a communication, in which they are detailed, 
made to the Country Gentleman of November 25, 188G, jj. 893, c. 4, 
is herewith given : 

Editors Country Gentleman. — In April last the writer moved 
into the country, and started a garden. In one part of it, 300 straw- 
berry plants were set. The ground had previously been in grass, 
and was well stocked with the white grub — the larva of the 
troublesome May-beetle, Lachnosterna fusca. Any experienced 
strawberry-grower would probably say that it was a foolish opera- 
tion to set strawberry plants in such land, but as no other was 
available, the risk was taken, and the difficulties encountered. No 
sooner had the plants fairly commenced growing than they began 
to die, one after another. The withered and drying plants were 
found to be nearly rootless, and, in most instances, the white grub 
that had eaten the roots was found in the ground under the plants. 

As a first attempt to stop the destruction, the earth between the 
rows of plants was dug over, and the grubs thus found (about 
forty) were killed. But all were not found. The destruction still 
went on, though perhaps less rapidly than before. Wetting the 
ground aboiit some of the plants with chamber slops was tried, 
but proved ineffectual. At the suggestion of the State Entomolo- 
gist, Prof. J. A. Lintner, the burdock remedy, which has been 



24 Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 

reported as effectual against the root maggots of the onion and 
cabbage, was tried. A bundle of burdock plants was gathered, cut 
and pounded according to directions, and soaked in water over 
night. With this infusion a dozen or more of the strawberry plants 
in different parts of the patch were watered. Under two of them, 
as special-test plants, living grubs were placed, that they might be in 
a convenient position to eat the burdock- watered roots, if they were 
so disposed. But they did not eat them, nor to this day have any 
of the plants thus treated at that time been attacked. After the 
lapse of about two weeks, wishing to see if the remedy was still 
effectual, another live grub was placed in the soil, at the roots of 
one of the special-test plants ; biit he, like his predecessors, declined 
the proffered roots. In the meantime, the untreated plants were 
dying, one after another, from the loss of their roots, till now nearly 
half the number have been destroyed. 

But the experiment already tried had given me such confidence 
in the burdock remedy that the vacant places in the patch were 
filled with new plants, and these, together with the untreated older 
ones, were given a dose of burdock water. This put an end to the 
attacks of the white grub for at least six weeks. Then two of the 
late-set plants suddenly wilted, and were found to have their roots 
partly eaten. With this exception, no treated plants have been 
lost to this day. I am unable to explain the failure in the case 
of these two plants. Possibly they may not have received so 
thorough a wetting as the other plants. Notwithstanding their loss, 
my confidence in the ability of the burdock remedy to protect the 
strawberry plant against the white grub is unshaken. It may pos- 
sibly be necessary to apply it twice in a season, but with the excep- 
tion of these two plants, one application has been sufficient in this 
case. It does not appear to be at all detrimental to the growth or 
vigor of the plant. 

We may pass now to remedial measures, and first those referring 
to the destruction of the beetle. 

Tree-shaking. — The May-beetle has a habit in common with 
many other species of becoming gregarious, in times of its great 
abundance, when it assembles in multitudes for the night upon 
fruit trees. This habit permits of its destruction in large num- 
bers, and the reduction of the following brood to the extent that 
its eggs have not at this time been deposited, by shaking them 
from the trees upon sheets spread underneath. Dr. Harris 
records, that in this way two pailfuls of beetles were collected on 
the first evening of the experiment — the number decreasing upon 
following evenings iintil the fifth, when only two beetles were to 
be found. He adds : " The best time, however, for shaking the 
trees * ^^ * is in the morning, when the insects do 



The White Grub of the May Beetle. 25 

not attempt to fly. They are most easily collected in a cloth 
spread under the trees to receive them when they fall, after which 
they should be thrown into boiling water to kill them, and 
may then be given as food to swine " {Treat. Ins. Inj. Veg., 
1862, p. 31). 

Dr. Fitch, in referring to this remedy, gives the time in which 
the trees may be shaken with the best results, as between midnight 
and daylight, as would appear from the observations of Mr. Milo 
Ingalsbe, of South Hartford, Washington county, N. Y. " He had 
seventy plum trees and a number of cherry trees of the choicest 
varieties, which never gave fairer promise of an abundant yield 
than at that time. But a swarm of these May-beetles suddenly 
gathered upon the trees, many of them being then splendidly in 
bloom, and in two nights, the fifteenth and sixteenth of May, 
wholly strij)ped them of their foliage, so that many of them were 
as naked as in winter. With their humming notes, these beetles 
were flying about the trees every evening until about 10 o'clock, 
when they would settle in clusters of eight, ten, twenty or more, 
and would thus remain until daylight, when they would tumble 
down from the trees, fl^^iug but little, however, and hiding them- 
selves wherever convenient to stay through the day {Third Fitch 
Rept. Ins. N. Y., 1859, p. 54). 

Attracting to Light. — The beetles, in their evening flights, are 
readily attracted to light, as is shown in the frequency with which 
they fly in at the open windows of our dwellings, public halls, 
churches, etc., in warm evenings, and the numbers that may be 
seen circling about the electric lights of our streets, or lying upon 
the pavements beneath, to which they have fallen. This well- 
known propensity of the beetle may be utilized to. lure them to 
their destruction. If a lantern be placed above a vessel of water 
upon which two or three tablespoonfuls of kerosene has been 
poured, many of the beetles drawn to the light and striking against 
it will be thrown into the water and killed. Many other noxious 
insects may at the same time be killed by this method. 

In our efforts to destroy the la7'va, we are met with several 
difficulties, of which these may be given : 

1. Applications to the ground of sufiicient strength to invariably 
kill the grub, of which several might be mentioned, would also 
be destructive to a growing crop. 
4 



26 Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 

2. The strongest applications that may with safety be applied, 
would be so impaired in strength in entering and penetrating the 
ground as to become inefficient at a moderate depth.* 

3. The grub has the ability of withdrawing itself from the 
obnoxious application by burying itself deeper in the ground. 

In consideration of the above and like difficulties, effort should 
be directed toward the discovery of some substance which will act 
upon the grub through other means than its exceeding strength. 
Should it be of such a character as simply to be repulsive to its 
taste, there is reason to believe that, rather than to feed upon roots 
that are saturated with it, it would die of starvation. In this 
manner, perhaps, may be found the reputed efficacy of the bur- 
dock infusion and of the application next to be noticed. Experi- 
ments in this direction are very desirable. 

Salt. — The application of salt has been pronounced an effectual 
remedy, while it has also been said to be of no avail whatever. 
The remedy would be so simj)le, and withal so inexpensive, that 
the claim made for it should be tested by careful experiments. It 
is possible that the reputed success may have resulted from its 
employment in the year of the greatest ravages — that preceding 
the transformation to the beetle, for during this latter year (next after 
the application), the newly-hatched grub will have made so little 
progress in its growth that there would necessarily be a com- 
parative immunity from its injury. On the other hand, the 
ascribed failure may have followed a too economical use of the 
cheap material — perhaps through fear of injury to the crop. 
A gentleman who strongly recommends this remedy, presumably 
from having thoroughly tested its value, deems it essential 
that the salt , should be used in large quantity. He writes : 
" The great error with those who have used it with unsatis- 
factory results has been its scanty application. I can assure the 
reader that grass or potatoes will grow luxuriantly under an appli- 
cation of one ton and a half -penr acre, which quantity would be sure 
to result in the complete extermination, not only of the grub, but 
every other kind of worm, and prevent the scab and other excres- 

* Some of the Lachnosterna grubs ordinarily feed at a considerable 
depth. Thus the larvte of Pohjphylla decemlineata Say, has been found by 
Mr. Rivers at a depth of from one foot to two feet among the root-fibers of 
a coarse grass and roots of a Californian laurel, Umbellularia Californica 
{Bull. Gala. Acad. ScL, 1886, ii, p. 69). • 



The White Grub of the May Beetle. 27 

cences which sometimes appear on potatoes, as well as preventing 
rot. A less quantity, say half [three-fourths of a ton], or even 
two or three barrels to the acre, though of course not as effectual, 
will accomplish much" {Countnj Gentleman, for Aug. 3, 1882, p. 
601, c. 2). 

If the above testimony to the value of salt as a grub-killer shall 
be sustained by further experiment, I would strongly urge, in view 
of the periodic character of these attacks in localities, that the salt 
be applied in the year of the abundant' appearance of the beetle, 
and preferably during the month of August or September, although 
no injury from the grub may be apparent. At this time the young 
grubs which are produced from the eggs deposited in June are 
within reach of the application, and may be killed far more readily 
than when they have attained additional powers of resistance in 
another year's growth. 

Caustic Lime ivash. — Mr. Daniel Batchelor, of Utica, N. Y., in 
a paper on " Lawns and Lawn Grasses," read before the Western 
New York Horticultural Society, at its annual meeting in January, 
1885, in referring to the destructiveness of the white grub to the 
roots of grasses, states : 

Its presence is made known by the appearance, in patches, of 
dead and bleaching grasses, and then is the time to attack the 
depredator. My method has been to pierce the sod with a steel 
bar to the depth of about six inches, and to make the perforations 
the same distance aj^art. Into these holes I pour caustic lime wash 
from the spout of a watering pot, and the pulpy fellow is done for. 
After the lapse of a few days the denuded surface is thoroughly 
raked, and some lawn seed sown. 

Rooting out by Swine. — The value of swine in freeing infested 
grass lands from the grub has often been urged, and we think is 
not overestimated. I believe that this remedy will prove success- 
ful, if good rooters be employed, when other methods fail. Dr. 
Fitch has written of it : 

" I would recommend the placing of a temporary fence around 
that portion of the meadow or pasture which is so thronged Avith 
these grubs, thus for a while converting the patch into a hog pasture. 
The propensity of these animals for rooting and tearing up the turf, 
we are all aware, is for the very purpose of coming at and feeding 
upon the grubs and worms that are lurking therein ; and who 
knows but that this rooting propensity, which has all along been 
complained of as being the most vicious and troublesome habit 



28 Bulletin of the New Yoek State Museum. 

which belongs to swine, may after all turn out to be the most valua- 
ble and necessary to us of any of the habits with which they are 
endowed. I can not but think that these animals, confined 
upon a spot so overstocked with grubs, would in a short time ferret 
out and devour every one of them, leaving the soil cleansed, 
mellowed, manured and well prepared for being immediately laid 
down to grass again, or for receiving any other rotation of crops for 
which the proprietor may deem the spot best adapted." 

Mr. Walsh, formerly State Entomologist of Illinois, had equally 
strong faith in the value of this method of overcoming the white- 
grub attack. After discoursing upon the great increase in the 
insect as observed in a few preceding years, its growing injury to 
young nurseries, and its violent irruption upon corn, which had 
formerly been exempt from it, he adds: "I suspect that the above 
phenomena are to be wholly or partially attributed to the introduc- 
tion of improved breeds of hogs in the place of the old, slab-sided, 
long-nosed prairie-rooters, and to the passage of laws compelling 
people to keep their hogs under fence, instead of allowing them to 
run at large. * * * Within the last few years such laws have 
been very generally passed in the Western States. * * * Hence, 
I am inclined to infer that the presence of the white grub is often 
to be attributed to the absence of the hog." 

Digging out. — When a valuable crop has been found, too late 
for other remedies, to be suffering from a severe attack of the grub, 
threatening its entire destruction, it has been saved by digging out 
the grubs by hand — popularly known as grubbing. In a pamphlet 
recently published by Mr. E. C. Haldane, upon the " Coffee Grub 
in Ceylon," the writer, in the discussion of several methods, states: 

"When coffee is thoroughly attacked, I know of but one cure — 
dig out the grub. It is slow, weary work, but it pays. I gave my 
men small dagger-shaped wooden pegs, and a cocoanut shell. 
Another man brought a bucket round into which he emptied the 
shells, and then took the collected grubs and put them in a five- 
gallon drum of boiling water." By the above method from 100 to 
150 grubs could be collected at each bush, and in one season (1882) 
twelve tons of coffee grubs were picked from a field, in Lindula, of 
eighty acres." 

Without occupying more space in a review and discussion of 
various other methods that have been proposed for destroying the 



The White Grub of the May Beetle. 29 

grub, I will refer to but one other, which I regard as an effectual 
one, wherever it may be resorted to : 

Starvation. — As soon as the attack is discovered, upon the 
removal of the crop, collect and bvirn, as far as practicable, all the 
vegetable material upon which the larvae could feed. If the 
ground has been cultivated for vegetables, gather all the stalks, 
stems, vines, etc., together with the roots, in piles, and burn them. 
If the land be in grass, after feeding as closely as possible, plow 
thoroughly, and follow during the autumn with such additional 
plowings and harrowings as shall best tend to destroy all vegetable 
life. At this time, gas-lime, if procurable, should be applied. 
Repeat these operations in the following spring, and allow the land 
to lie fallow for the year. Compliance with these directions would 
not only starve out the white grub, but also whatever wire- 
worms, cut-worms, and other underground larvae there might be 
present. 

The fallowing of the land for an entire year may be found to be 
unnecessary. It is not improbable that it might be preferable 
that the thorough breaking up of the ground in the autumn and 
spring be followed with a crop of buckwheat. Wonderful efficacy 
has been claimed for this plant, in freeing the ground from wire- 
worms — the larvse of other beetles, and we know not why it may 
not be equally efficient when employed against the white grub. 
By all means, let thorough tests of its value be made, since the 
trial is so simple. Hon. A. B. Dickinson, after experimenting 
with salt and lime for destroying wire- worms, has stated : " I have 
only proved one remedy for the rascals, and that is, to break the 
sod and sow it to buckwheat ; plow late and as often as possible 
in the fall, and then sow it to peas in the spring ; with the like 
plowing next fall, they will not disturb any crop the next season." 

In England, a crop of mustard is regarded as an antidote against 
the wire-worm. In an address before an agricultural society there, 
the speaker, after detailing some successful experiments upon a 
small scale with mustard, stated as follows : " Thus encouraged by 
these results, I sowed the next year a whole field of forty-two 
acres, which had never repaid me for nineteen years, in conse- 
quence of nearly every crop being destroyed by the wire-worm ; 
and I am warranted in stating that not a single ivire-worm could he 
found the folloioing year, and the crop of wheat throughout was 
superior to any that I had grown for twenty-one years." Certainly 



30 Bulletin of the New York State Museum. 

this very successful experiment, confirmed as it is by many others 
that I find recorded, deserves to be faithfully tested with the 
white grub. 

Study of the Insect Desired. 

I have now given the characters by which the notorious white 
grub may be recognized ; have narrated so much of its life- 
history as is known to us ; have told of its ravages and of the 
enemies that prey upon it ; and, so far as I am able, have pointed 
out the principal means for the prevention of its depredations, 
indicating those which are deemed the best. 

To me, and perhaps to many others, it is not the satisfactory 
exhibit of knowledge of the species that is desirable. As before 
stated, there are several points in its history upon which infor- 
mation is still needed. May I ask, and in return be favored 
with the aid of the farmers of our State toward supplying what 
is lacking? They have the opportunities for making valuable con- 
tributions with but little effort, and of a kind that may not be 
obtained from other sources. I would, therefore, beg of them, 
and of all others who are interested in the eminently prac- 
tical work in which we are engaged, to make observation and to 
send me the results from time to time of some of the following 
points. Even in a communication of two or three lines, quite 
important information may be contained : 

1. The earliest and the latest appearance of the May-beetle in 
any year. 

2. The comparative abundance of the beetle in different years, 
particularly noting such years of unusual abundance, as may 
appear to indicate a periodicity of three years. 

3. The presence or absence of eggs in the female beetle, to be 
ascertained by cutting open the abdomen and examining the contents. 
The female may be told by the three-leaved (when spread apart) 
terminal club of the antennse being but about one-half the length 
of that of the male. My observations tend to the probability that 
the eggs are deposited before the beetle comes abroad for flight 
and food. It is important that this point should be determined. 

4. The reentering the ground (if so) by the female for deposit- 
ing her eggs ; the character of the soil entered as to its degree of 
compactness; and the crop cultivated thereon. 

5. The manner of oviposition, if in a mass within a ball of earth as 
stated, or singly — the number of eggs, and depth at which placed. 



The White Grub of the May Beetle. 31 

It is thought that this can be ascertained the most easily by taking 
a few examples of each sex when freshly turned out from the 
ground while yet in their pale color, and confining them in a box 
of sod-covered earth, and, after their death, carefully examining 
the soil for the eggs that may have been deposited. Or the beetles 
uncovered by the plow in the early spring might be sent to the 
State Entomologist for his observation. 

6. The eifects of gas-tar water, ammoniacal liquid when it can 
be obtained, guano, phosphates and superphosphates, hog manure, 
kainit, sludge acid, alkali waste, bisulphide of carbon, etc., employed 
either as preventive of egg-deposit or for killing the larvae. Even 
negative results from the use of any of the above apjDlications 
should be recorded. 



;i;!ii':i:iRY of ci:''|i:;i;:e:;;. 



000 889 232 5 $ 



m 



